Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Florist Fun Facts for April

Did you know......

80-90% of the fresh cut flowers in the US come from South America?

Fresh cut flowers do not need sunlight, in fact, it will speed up the "dying"process

Roses and Carnations are grown in mountain regions with cooler climates in Ecuador and Columbia.

The biggest "floral holidays" by rank are: Christmas, Mother's Day and in 3rd place, Valentine's Day.

Daffodils secrete a poisonous sap that will kill other flowers if combined in a vase together.

Poinsettias are not poisonous but amaryllis, mistletoe and holly berries are.

Baby's breath, wax flower, limonium and other "filler" flowers are weighed and sold in grams (metric) but florist have to convert that to by the stem pricing for resale

Floral designers stand while designing, sitting while designing has been proven to result in slower productivity.

Designers are expected to produce/design 3-4 arrangements per hour as an industry standard.

There are several universities that offer Associate Degrees in Floral design, Floriculture, and other related fields.

In the victorian era, each flower had a specific meaning, and when combined with other flowers in a nosegay, could convey secret messages between men and women.

Some of the early boutonnieres were worn by men to disguise body odor in the victorian era.

Egyptians crushed rose petals and other flowers to use as "make up"

Oasis, the first "floral foam" was first marketed in 1953 and could take up to an hour to saturate with water.  Today there are several companies that produce floral foam of different shapes, sizes, densities and colors and most are completely saturated in less than 2 minutes.